Heroes – our pets- how many times have you heard “Who rescued who?”
We at Angel’s Paws and Angel’s Watch believe that our pets are every day heroes to their families. But there are some pets who provide service for all of us. We want to thank them and honor them in a special way. Angel’s Watch has established a special fund that allows these heroes the dignity and respect they deserve, of a private goodbye in the sanctity of their own home. With this gift we offer these heroes a final salute.
This fund is dedicated specifically to serve our working or retired military, police and public service K9’s in the greater Cincinnati area as our thank you for their, and their partners’, service.
If you would like to donate to the Angel’s Watch Military & Police Dog fund, please click the “donate now” button.
Watch the feature on Fox 19’s Salute to Heroes with Tricia Macke:
Serving K-9s Who’ve Served Us
One of the remarkable public service K-9’s that inspired the creation of this dedicated fund was K-9 Kurt.
K-9 Kurt and his handler, Joel, were paired together at the eight-week ATF Explosives Detection Course in Front Royal, Virginia in the fall of 2006. Kurt certified on ATF operational searches and National Odor Recognition Test. Kurt and Joel had an amazing partnership during their 7 years of work in the Washington, DC area, conducting building searches, deliveries, vehicles, unattended packages and assisting in search warrants. One of the highlights of Kurt’s first few years working was being at the 2009 Presidential Inauguration on Pennsylvania Ave.
Kurt excelled at his work and interacting with people and was soon known as a representative of his agency throughout the DC area. His handler took great pride in representing his agency and the police K-9 community and wrote a children’s book in 2010 about a fictional police K-9 called “Hoover the FBI Dog”. Kurt continued to serve and worked the 2013 Presidential Inauguration until he retired later in the summer of 2013 and moved with his family to Cincinnati. At home he enjoyed simply being a regular dog. Kurt’s favorite activity would be when he would get to come on vacation to his family’s lake home in Kentucky and spend the entire time swimming and riding in the boat.
Towards the end of his life, Angel’s Paws assisted in preparing for sending Kurt over the Rainbow Bridge. Project K-9 Hero and Angel’s Paws made sure Kurt was comfortable and was taken care of when the time came for him to gain his wings in January of 2018.
Joel stated, “Kurt was the best partner, family member and friend anyone could have asked for. I never imagined that he would get to go to work with my dog every day, but for the 7 years we worked together, he couldn’t have asked for a better experience in life.”
The first dog to receive this fund was Officer Matzi, who served the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics unit. Sergeant Koo wrote to us:
“Myself and Matzi had a great career together for 8 years working as a Narcotics K-9 team, seizing numerous pounds of narcotics and currency.
In 2017, Matzi started having a difficult time getting into the car to go to work. He never stopped having a desire to work, play and go places even though his body said he could not do it anymore.
In 2018 Matzi was officially retired and we made our home as comfortable for him as possible. Despite his failing health, he was always devoted. He never stopped watching out the window when we’d leave the house and was always there to greet us at the door when we came home.
A friend of mine referred Angel’s Paws to me in the past. I had no idea what to expect when the time came to say goodbye in early 2019, and only knew that I wanted Matzi to be where he was most comfortable- at home.
We were so touched to learn that his care would be 100% donated by the non-profit Angel’s Watch to honor his service and I cannot say enough kind words about this gift. They were the most loving, caring, and understanding people to experience this process with. Every time I came in contact with Angel’s Paws staff or the Angel’s Watch board members, something was done that left me speechless. The compassion shown during my initial call was unbelievable. Picking up Matzi’s remains was something that I would have never dreamed would be, without a doubt, the most touching experience ever.
I cannot thank you enough for the care, compassion and kindness you provided to Matzi, myself and my wife. It will never be forgotten.”
K-9 Rudy was a trained and certified Arson Detection dog, meaning he could detect the presence of ignitable liquids in fire scene debris. Rudy partnered with Steve Claytor as Green Township Fire Department’s third and last Certified Arson K-9 team. Rudy retired from his 12 year career in January and he passed away in March 2020.
In addition to their work in Green Township, Rudy and Steve volunteered their time to travel anywhere they were needed to help find the source of arson fires and in some cases he found the arsonist still watching from the crowd! His exceptional scent discrimination ability made him a valuable asset to fire departments all over Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Over Rudy’s career it is estimated that he worked over 2,000 fire scenes.
Many area children and adults got to meet the popular Rudy at his frequent demonstrations at schools and civic events. Introducing Rudy to the new Cincinnati Fire Recruits was an annual event.
Rudy and Steve were together 24/7 for over 12 years, either at their 24-hour fire house shift, traveling to and working a fire scene or at home. That close K9 partnership bond made it especially difficult when it became apparent that Rudy needed end of life care. Once Rudy was enrolled in Angel’s Paws Pet Parent Peace of Mind Program, he received palliative care including pain management and symptom control. His parents were grateful because they saw such an improvement in his quality of life, that he must have been in more pain than he was willing to let them know. With pain management he was not only happy to continue working, but he was enjoying walks and pouncing on toys again! Reports like that are what we live for at Angel’s Paws. Rudy worked happily for 6 more months until retirement.
Pattison was named after the park in which he was dumped as a very young puppy. He was discovered by a K9 search and rescue team training at the park, when K9 Emma alerted to his presence hidden under a bush. He was adopted by Ed & Gloria, who are members of Buckeye Search & Rescue Dogs and quickly became a beloved member of their family and the team. They discovered quickly that Pattison had a high drive and work ethic and he trained to become a certified search and rescue K9. Throughout his 11 years of work, Pattison assisted in 101 searches for missing persons, cadavers, and assisted in the search after the West Virginia flood. He frequented schools to educate children on the work of search & rescue dogs. After he retired, he still participated in practice searches, in short lengths of time, allowing him to keep doing the work he was so passionate about. Pattison made his journey the rainbow bridge at 15 years old with the assistance of Angel's Paws.